Rainy Days
by Paraluman
Summary: Everyone has their own story in the rain... Especially a certain flower in Gotei 13...


Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.

A/N: This is my first fic that concentrates heavily on SousukeXRetsuXByakuya, though I will, hopefully add some more pairings in the future chapters. If one notices, I also added the KaienXRukiaXIchigo triad here. Please review… I may need some ideas on what to do in the next chapters. Oh and to those who read my other fics ('mistletoes above my head' and 'how are you?'), I have changed my pen name from rainroses to Tomine Ichizawa for purposes that I do not wish to disclose.

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**Rainy Days**

**Chapter 1**

"**Flower in the Rain"**

Created by Tomine Ichizawa

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Isane Kotetsu looked outside her window one rainy day. She was in the middle of a huge amount of paperwork; the 11th division had been sending them lots of men with almost ripped limbs since Aizen's betrayal. Their taichou was preparing them for war. Everyone was getting busy; Sotaichou Yamamoto had already started dispersing some shinigami to spy in Hueco Mundo. Her taichou had most work to do since the training of the shinigami caused a lot of casualties. Normally, she would be able to withstand the loss of her energy in healing just one or two men but with a great number, she, the woman who has earned the moniker "The Greatest Healer in Soul Society", has also become the most fatigued shinigami in all Gotei 13.

Her thoughts were cut when her taichou slid the door of her office open. She was leaning on the wall; not a good sign. "T-Taichou! Are you alright?"

Isane went to support her captain, leading her to a zabuton that was inhabited.

Her taichou offered her a tired smile and assured her that everything was alright. She even joked that the preparation for the war was going to kill them all, and not the war itself. Isane looked at her captain, worried; she had never seen her captain this tired in her years of service.

"Unohana-taichou, I think you should retire to your quarters today. I'll make the rounds later," Isane volunteered to her captain, who just waved her hand.

"Don't worry, Kotetsu-fukutaichou, I'll be fine. I just need to take my mind off things…" Retsu looked out of the window. Big drops of rain splattered on the window, and the rumble of thunder could be heard outside. "It's raining again, huh? Just like the old times…"

Isane watched as her captain slowly closed her eyes and hum a melody. Her captain's voice was haunting; yet it was also sweet. She stopped and then looked out the window again. "Kotetsu-fukutaichou, do you think you can do me a favor?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Retsu smiled at Isane disarmingly. "Could you please get me an umbrella?"

Isane stood up and got a black parasol from a nearby umbrella stand. She handed it to her captain, who smiled at her and thanked her. "I will be going out for a while… I will come back for the rounds later. You try to rest too… you have been doing those paperwork since early this morning."

Retsu left her vice-captain and walked to her favorite part of Seireitei, a pretty, desolate area where the prettiest flowers in all Soul Society bloomed. She remembered it distinctly; that play they had in her Academy days… with Shunsui, Jyuushirou, Sousuke, Kisuke and Yorouichi… it was held in this place. Oh how they laughed together and joked together; just having a good time. She was of course, the most timid in the group, but she still had fun with them. The laughter and tears they shared… yes, they were only memories now. Retsu settled below a Sakura tree and a petal fell from the pink clusters that flowered above. She caught it in her palm and hummed the tune again. She would always cherish it but sometimes, memories are better left with time…

_8th Bantai_

Shunsui Kyouraku looked out of his window. His strict vice-captain had caught him again and now, he was surrounded by stacks and stacks of reports. He could only imagine what the 3rd, 5th and 9th vice-captains' work would look like. Their captains were deserters… Shunsui heaved a heavy sigh. It was raining. He hated the rain; the sounds of the rain beating on the roof tiles would bring him somewhere else and lead him to sleep. Come to think of it, it rained that day too… Shunsui stood up silently as so not to disturb his vice-captain who was also absorbed in her own work. He grabbed his hat and was about to leave when Nanao's steel voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?" Nanao stood up and was walking towards her captain, who was now heading out the door. "It's raining and you have work waiting for you."

"Eh?"

"I need you to read all of those papers and sign them, Kyouraku-taichou."

"Nanao-chan can do that for me right?" Shunsui replied with a lopsided grin. Then he looked out of the door. "Besides, there's a flower waiting in that rain right now… waiting for someone who won't come… I have to keep her company, ne?"

Shunsui got a pink parasol, winked at Nanao and left the office. Nanao stared at the back of her captain. What did he mean about flower? Is he tricking me again to escape work? Or… is he serious this time? She looked up at the dark skies. The rain really does weird things to people. She looked at her captain again, who was now just a mere dot of pink in the distance. Sometimes, he really just confuses her. Most of the time he'd says things that are normally asinine, but there are times like these when all he tells her are riddles. Some of the rain splashed into office door and on Nanao's face as she watched her captain vanish. She closed the door slowly. "Tsk… rainy days…"

_13th Bantai_

Ukitake stirred in his sleep. It was unusually chilly today. He pulled his covers over his shoulders to no avail; it was still cold. He got up from his bed to hear the rhythmic pounding of the rain against the roof. He coughed, bringing his two extremely competitive 3rd seats into the room.

"Ukitake-taichou!" both said in unison.

Jyuushirou assured them that he was okay and he fondly watched them bicker out of his room. He watched as the rain watered the garden outside his room; the lilies in the pond looked very serene. He observed his garden for a little while now, paying close attention to his carefully tended plants. As his eye surveyed the wet plants, it stopped at a particular bush. He smiled sadly. That rose bush brought about so many memories. He wondered how she was feeling today. He really wondered. Slowly he got out of his bed, kept the covers, and got into his captain overcoat, which was neatly folded on his desk nearby. He stepped into his slippers, and went outside cautiously. He looked out on both sides for Kiyone and Sentaro, and fortunately, they weren't in view. He got an umbrella and went out in the rain.

When Kiyone and Sentaro went to check on their taichou, they were horrified to find out that he was no longer in bed. His captain overcoat was nowhere to be seen and so were his slippers.

"He's gone, Sentaro!"

"I know that, brat!"

"I'm not a brat!!"

The two argued until they forgot the purpose of their horror. They left the room, went separate ways, and soon, came running back to their taichou's quarters, remembering that he disappeared.

_Kuchiki Mansion_

Rukia stared out of her window, head in her hands. The house was quiet; the servants were in their own rooms, cleaning it up for an inspection later. Except for the occasional rumble of thunder outside, everything else was shrouded in complete silence. She was in a gloomy mood; the rain always served as a reminder of that day when he left them… when she killed him… when she lost the person that kept her smiling. Sure, Ichigo was there but Kaien was in a way… _different_. She watched as the droplets of rain formed different patterns on the window's glass and muttered something inaudible.

"Rukia."

Rukia straightened up at the voice. She looked up to see her brother looking at her with a strange expression in his eyes… pity? "Nii-sama… I thought you were attending a meeting today."

"They cancelled it. Kyouraku, Ukitake and Unohana did not make it." He had an irritated tone in his voice.

"Did something happen to them?"

"Nothing that I know of." He let a small frown escape his features, and then reverted back to his poker face.

"Oh, okay… Is there something I can help you with?"

"…" Byakuya thought of an answer. He had never seen Rukia that down before. He just wanted her not to keep it, he mused… sometimes, she really looked to much like Hisana. But he was her older brother, after all… … he has to say something sensible now or he is going to lose face. "…Is something bothering you?"

Rukia was surprised at her brother's words. He was actually concerned. But it still didn't help. "I hate the rain."

Byakuya looked out, at the gloomy clouds that have gathered above Seireitei. He didn't mind the rain; except that it made some of the shinigami under him turn into lazy bones.

"Do you know the story 'Eternal Wait'?" Rukia asked, still looking out.

Byakuya looked at his sister. He knew that story; it was turned into a play by the Shinigami Academy to be performed every spring-end festival. He got cast into it once; he played the head of the village. But its most popular and well remembered rendition was the one which was performed by the senior captains of Gotei 13.

Rukia did not wait for her brother to reply. "They loved each other dearly; but he left her to be with another woman who wanted his riches, not his love. She found out and cried but he promised her he'd stop seeing the other woman… One day she came home to find out that her husband was not around; it was raining that day too… so she went out to wait for his arrival. But she didn't know that her husband had lied to her; he left on a boat with the other woman… gone forever. And she waited and waited, already drenched in the rain… she refused to eat or go inside… she waited there until she died of tiredness… her husband came back years after, when he finally realized how blind he was only to find out that his wife died… died waiting for him to come back.

Some say she was a fool; but some believed that she was a martyr… love is truly a strange thing."

Byakuya glanced at his sister. Her eyes were filled with tears which she stopped from flowing down her cheek. He pondered why she could be talking about a strange thing in front of him… and cry, of all things, in front of him too. She would never do this on a normal day. But today wasn't normal. It was a rainy day. And she hated the rain. He brooded over it for awhile… could Ichigo be the cause of this? Byakuya brushed the thought away. They aren't in a relationship. Or at least he thinks so. Ichigo is busy trying to get back that friend of his in Hueco Mundo. They can't be in a relationship. They just can't be, or he'll have to go to Hueco Mundo and chop that boy's head off for ever making his sister cry. Or could Renji be the reason? Byakuya put the thought aside as well. Renji will come to him if ever they were a couple.

"You know that Unohana-taichou played the wife when she was still in the Academy?"

"…."

"Yup… she was the wife. They loved her performance. Kuukaku Shiba…" Rukia's voice faltered a bit, but regained its volume. "She played the other woman. And… he played the husband."

"…he?"

"Sousuke Aizen. I heard they were all close friends. My class saw the year book when we were still in the Academy… the main cast of that year were closely knitted… I wonder how they are feeling… especially Unohana-taichou…I always remember that story when it rains…"

"Why Unohana-taichou?"

Rukia wiped her tears and looked her brother in the eye. "She was his girlfriend at that time as well."

Byakuya felt a pang in his chest. He never knew that. All this time, she always manages to smile when they meet each other in the hallways. He felt like something was gripping him from somewhere inside. No wonder she would never lead him… well, to begin with, he never did officially ask her out… but whenever he tried to do something sweet for her, she always responded the way she would respond to others. Her heart was still with the man who tried to kill his sister, who betrayed everyone in Soul Society. Seeing that Rukia was watching him intently, he looked out again nonchalantly and replied, "Who knows..."

"Kuchiki-donno," a maid interrupted their conversation. "The rooms are ready for inspection."

"Very well, carry on." Byakuya glimpsed at Rukia, who was lost in her thoughts again, staring out of the window. She muttered something that sounded like 'Just like the story… Aizen-taichou, Unohana-taichou…' but he was at a distance to confirm it. He followed the maid, thoughts still troubled by what he just heard.

Fin

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zabuton – a small mat that one sits on in a traditional Japanese setting

Eternal Wait – is of my own composition. (Probably the only thing that I own in this chapter.)

Well, I'm done with chapter 1 and I hope that chapter 2 will also be over soon. Comments and suggestions, you're just a review away! Thanks (if you'll review… and if you won't well… thanks for reading still but it'll really make my day if you review ,) !!!


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